Twist-top bottle cap openers, lid openers for jars, vacuum-sealed jars, and tab-top can openers, have been known for some time. These separate implements are found in the kitchens of many homes and are used on an almost daily basis. No kitchen would be considered complete without these types of openers. However, these separate openers take up considerable space and cause clutter in the drawer or on the shelf where they are each normally stored. In one aspect of the present invention, the separate implements are combined in a unique functional arrangement to provide a unitary multi-purpose closure opener for a variety of different uses.
Several patents currently exist which pertain to multi-purpose openers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,894 to Roberts discloses a hand held opening tool having a single twist-top bottle opener, a tab-top opener, and a bag slitting feature.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,297 to Ross discloses a tool having at one end at least two different sets of teeth for engaging twist-top caps. This device is particularly suited for medicine bottles, as it has a blade at the opposing end for puncturing safety seals.
Still another opener tool is shown in German Patent Document No. DT 2531453. This patent discloses a twist-top opener with two serrated edges tapered inwardly for gripping various bottle top sizes. The disclosed tool device is capable of engaging a bottle cap at only two points on the cap. It also shows a rather cumbersome vacuum-jar opener, and a tab-top opener.
However, these and other known closure openers have various disadvantages, such as a lack of unitary construction; failure to combine the most commonly used opening devices into a single, easy-to-use structure; failure to use an effective jar lid opening configuration; and failure to fix twist-top grips to prevent slippage when engaging different sized bottle caps.
Disadvantages and deficiencies in the known prior art have been addressed by the present invention.